BoyMomLovesBooks: Spotlight~Jennifer Seidler & #Giveaway

JENNIFER SEIDLER

INTERVIEW

What made you want to write?

I don't know if there was any one thing that gave me the impetus to write. I've been putting words on paper as long as I can remember. I wrote all in high school and in college. Submitted poetry to the college literary magazine and got rejected left and right, but it didn't stop me. I learned a new way to write in law school, and after that experience, I was itching to get back to the creativity. I write a lot on the side, I've written a lot of novel length things, but Dry Land was the first one I felt confident enough to publish. Writing is a drive for me. Its a craving, something I have to do. It's on my mind all the time.

What genre(s) do you write in?

I've written romance. I've written gritty, dirty crime novels. I've written sex. I've written comedy. I've written drama. I've written science fiction. I've written short stories, novellas, novelettes and novels. I suppose I don't try to pigeonhole myself into a genre. Dry Land, however, is, I think, considered hard science fiction with elements of romance in it. I love that genre deeply. I just finished reading The Martian by Andy Weir and wow. That book was right up my alley.

What was the first book you ever wrote?

The earliest story I ever wrote was, to my six-year old mind quite funny. A scene, only a few handwritten pages in pink and purple ink, about a doctor who had a cold and was complaining to his fellow doctors that he felt like he was "gonna dieeeeee." Yeah, not so funny, but still. The first book length work I wrote was a bit of fan fiction years and years ago. Harry Potter, of course. It wasn't very good at all, but it was mine. Can't find it now even if I tried.

What is your favorite out of all of your books, published or not?

Definitely Dry Land. There's another story I wrote that I love called Black Dahlia, but that will not ever get published. :)

What makes this your favorite?

I think the way it came to me. It was not like anything I wrote before. The family and I visited the Kennedy Space center in 2013 and seeing the shuttle Atlantis sparked something. The story sort of popped into my head, Ted was nearly fully formed in my mind. I wrote it in my brain on the drive home from Orlando to Wisconsin, and then felt very much compelled to write it out as quickly as I could. That was quite an editing job when I was done.

What is your daily routine when it comes to your writing?

I don't really have a daily routine. I wish I did. I sort of write as things come to me. Right now I'm on a little bit of a dry spell, but I'm not worried about that. Something will come. I'm doing some hobby writing with some partners, bits of back and forth that are character based, and that keeps me going on a daily basis writing wise.

What is something that you struggle with when it comes to writing?

Gerunds. Definitely gerunds. :)

What is your favorite thing about writing?

Sitting in my car and speaking out all the dialogue my mind comes up with. In voices. With full on accents. Glad I drive myself to work every morning, and drive country roads. I'd look pretty silly talking to myself otherwise.

Where do you get your ideas for writing?

Everywhere and anywhere.

Who is your author inspiration?

Jasper Fforde. He's given me the freedom and permission to write the opposite sex in first person.

What is your favorite book of all time?

Again, Jasper Fforde. The Eyre Affair and its sequels. I love Jasper's freeform style of writing, his deep characterization, his off the wall humor, his use of language, his manner of grabbing the reader by the heart and the balls, and yes, even his literary snobbishness. :)

Where do you see your writing career in 5 years?

Hopefully with another book or two under my belt. Perhaps next time I'll try to farm out to an agent if my product is good enough. I'd love to keep on doing this, even independently, it's been a wild, wonderful ride and I bless the day I decided to publish Dry Land.

List of works:

Dry Land

MY THOUGHTS

Since I have had the pleasure of listening to Dry Land,

I thought that I would put my two cents in.

This type of book was sort of new for me…

the Artificial Intelligence/Robotic type of character,

but I found that I enjoyed it.

Having some of the characters

having that type of characteristics,

thrown in with regular humans,

and trying to find a way of expansion for Earth on the Moon.

Now we all know that the Moon

is so extremely important to the balance of the oceans,